Description

Tokyo-to, a city not unlike Tokyo, somewhere in Asia, in the near future. This is the story about the GG's, one of three rival teenage gangs who ride motorised inline skates and are tagging the streets with graffiti. There is a turf war going on between the gangs GG's, the Poison Jam, and the high-tech freaks, the Noise Tanks. The evil Rokkaku Corporation has the corrupt police in their grasp, and, headed by Captain Onishima, the cops are hell-bent on subduing the unruly teen protagonists. But there is light in the darkness: the underground DJ, "Professor K," and his Jet Set Radio station keep tabs on what is happening on the streets of Tokyo-to, and soon our teens will have something much darker than the police to worry about.

As one of the GG's, you skate through a variety of different levels, from busy streets to run-down rooftops and smelly sewers where you learn new moves, collect spray cans, and tag the streets with graffiti. New graffiti designs can be unlocked by finding "Graffiti Souls" in levels, by designing new graffiti yourself, or by going online and downloading any images you find while browsing the internet. Fight the rival gangs "Poison Jam" and the "Noise Tanks", the evil mega-corporation Rokkaku and their police cronies in this fresh take on the platform genre, mixing traditional platform elements with skating similar to that of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater games. Players are scored on their performance in a level, both on the level of graffiti attempted as well as optional tags and skating tricks. As the game progresses challenge maps open that test the player's ability to do larger tags, more tricks, or race against an opponent.

The American and European release contained two new levels based on New York. The story and order that you meet characters was modified to include these two levels. Both releases also have different unique soundtracks for these levels.

The 2012 HD version has widescreen HD graphics and a new camera system, as well as all the original songs but one.

Those who preordered the American version of the game received a "Jet Grind Radio Music Sampler" soundtrack CD featuring music by the artists added for the American release of the game. The track listing is:

1. Rob Zombie - Dragula

2. Rob Zombie - What Lurks on Channel X

3. Jurassic 5 - Improvise

4. Mix Master Mike - Patrol Knob

5. Cold - Just Got Wicked

6. Professional Murder Music - Slow

7. Shuvel - Set It Off

8. Shuvel - Hit List

9. Lefty - Girls

10. Jurassic 5 - Improvise (Instrumental)

Tokyo

The three districts of Tokyo-to are actually the names of real districts of the real city of Tokyo in Japan. They are Benten-cho, Kogane-cho, and Shibuya-cho. The names of the real districts are simply Benten, Kogame, and Shibuya, but the "-cho" suffix can be added, as "-cho" simply means "district" or "area" in Japanese.

Version differences

The original Japanese version, did not contain the levels featuring Cube and Combo (Grind Square was one of these levels). When the game was brought to the USA, the name was changed to Jet Grind Radio and these extra levels were added. Songs from Rob Zombie were also added. Although, during the game, DJ Professor K still refers to the radio station as "Jet Set Radio". The US version of Jet Set Radio got a limited release in Japan as well, called De La Jet Set Radio. This version was released only through the Dreamcast/SEGA Direct system, and is completely in English.

In Europe, the game kept its original title and had the extra levels. It does not have the Rob Zombie songs. It also has some differently translated dialogue from the USA version.